Hi Makeup Geeks! As you all know, every year around the holidays I go on my search for the best makeup palettes. I review each of them individually, then at the end I pick my favorite one of the year. I love this time of year, from the Starbucks holiday coffee to the decorations and palettes, I love it! Not to mention the makeup…:-)
Today we are going to be looking at Smashbox “Master Class” palette.
The Packaging
I really dislike giving bad reviews on anything, but to be honest I was horribly disappointed in this packaging. Let’s start with the outside. It comes in a book form made from cardboard. The outside has a silver finish that was to me very reminiscent of a bad disco ball. I was not a fan of this at all. Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse. When I opened the palette I discovered the binding inside was completely cracked at least half way down the middle. There was also a small crack on the right side and some of the shadows were coming out. There are several reviews on Sephora of people having the same exact problem. You get 28; .04 ounce eyeshadows, 4; .03 ounce gel liners (can also be used as an eyeshadow base), 4 blushes, 2 bronzer and 2 highlighters all at .09 ounces. For the price you do get a great amount of product. The only other thing is I am not a fan of having any cream products in a palette that contains powder as it always transfers. However, this does come with a plastic protector which will also help if you plan to travel with this.
Eyeshadows
As much I dislike the packaging on this, the product that comes inside is actually quite good. There is a great mixture of both colors and neutrals and finishes as well. The eyeshadows are very creamy and blend easily but some of them do come off powdery and there is some fall out. I wish the matte shades had been a bit more creamy and pigmented but that is sometimes the case with matte shades. Most of the shadows will need a base or primer of some kind as they do start to show signs of fading after just a few hours. The matte shades will need to be built up, they swatch good but when applied sheer out a lot! The colors are broken down into groups of 3 that are each suppose to work together.
In Groups L to R
Top Row
Group 1 (Head Shot)
- Head Shot – Cream with a Satin Finish
- Golden Orchid – Soft Pink with Gold Sheen and a Frost Finish
- Chestnut – Warm Satin Brown with Red Undertones
Group 2 (Heliograph)
- Nectar – Matte Light/Medium Beige with a Hint of Peach
- Peacock – Frosted Cool Teal
- Mocha – Cool Satin Chocolate Brown
Group 3 (Focal Point)
- Champagne – Frosted Champagne
- Flamingo – Peach/Pink with Gold Tones and a Frost Finish
- Java – Dark Warm Matte Brown
Group 4 (Quick Take)
- Vanilla – Matte Finish Vanilla
- Ambient – Shimmery Bronze Gold
- Serpent – Deep Satin Hunter Green with Small Glitter
Second Row L to R
Group 5 ( Cover Shoot)
- Flirt – Warm Frosted/Metallic Champagne with Small Silver Glitter and a Frost Finish
- Dusk – Satin Taupe
- Haze – Cool Toned Satin with Purple Undertones
Group 6 ( Hyperfocal)
- Mist – Cool Toned Silver with a Metallic/Frost Finish
- Rose – Frosted Rose Taupe
- Obsidian – Dark Navy Blue with a Satin Finish and Silver Glitter
Group 7 ( Vignette)
- Parfait – Matte Pale Pink
- Amethyst – Satin/Metallic Dark Rose Pink with Purple Undertones
- Aubergine – Black Satin/Metallic with a Green Shift
Group 8 (Aristotype)
- Opal – Satin True White
- Anchor – Satin Medium/Dark Grey
- Ultramarine – Satin Dark Navy Blue
Other Shades
- Bliss – Matte Cream
- Wheat – Matte Beige
- Sable – Medium Matte Brown
- Blackout – Matte Black
Gel Liners
I am not a fan of liners that are in an open palette like this as the tend to dry out rather quickly. I found these not to be as pigmented when I tried to use them and it took a couple of coats to get a good dark shade.
- Bronze – Bronze
- Midnight Purple – Dark Purple
- Picasso – Dark Blue/Grey
- Caviar – Black
Blushes, Bronzer, Highlighters
These were by far my favorite thing about this palette. These had great pigmentation and also had a buttery and creamy texture to them. They blended onto the cheeks well and looked great on the skin.
- Carnation (Blush) – Shimmery Peach/Pink
- Flush (Suppose to be a bronzer but would only work for fair skin, this makes a better blush) – Matte Light Tan
- Geranium (Blush) – Matte Bright Pink
- Rosy (Blush) – Dark Rose Pink
- Suntan (Bronzer) – Matte Medium Tan
- Warm Apricot (Blush) – Shimmery Pale Peach
- Lens (Highlight) – Soft Pale Peach
- Shimmer (Highlight) – Shimmery Champange
Price: $59.00
Where to Buy: Sephora, Amazon, eBay
I wish the packaging on this was so much better. That is always your first impression of a palette and hard to move past. Although the quality of the makeup wasn’t the worst I have seen, I still have a hard time recommending this. I can’t imagine someone opening this as a gift and seeing it broke and cracked. For that reason I would say this is a definite pass.
Sorry Smashbox 🙁 I still love your eyeshadows!
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